II.5. Le passage de l’Allemagne vers la Suisse

Switzerland’s refugee policies during the National Socialist era did not comply with international and humanitarian law. In 1938, at the request of Nazi Germany, Swiss authorities agreed to stamp the passports of German Jews separately in accordance with the Nuremberg Race Laws. With respect to Jewish refugees, Switzerland saw itself as a place of transit—not as a country where Jews could be allowed to resettle. After the failure of the Evian Conference in 1938, Switzerland closed its border to refugees, as did other countries. For humanitarian reasons, however, many refugees continued to be admitted.During WWII, border police records indicate that a total of 25,700 refugees were refused entry. At the border with France, 3,000 Jews were expelled, many of whom originally came from Germany, Poland, or the Benelux Countries. In 1995, President Kaspar Villiger apologised for the suffering Jewish refugees experienced because of Swiss regulations. He recalled that Switzerland had taken in a total of around 296,000 refugees, specifically 104,000 military and 192,000 civilian refugees, including 22,000 Jews fleeing persecution. In Switzerland, the scientific and public debate about the country’s refugee policies during the Holocaust continues. The various parties involved in the debate are still struggling to call attention to their perspectives.